Post Your Creative Uses of Other Items From the Toolkit

Scroll down to see how others are using downloadable materials found in the campaign toolkit!

Link Games and Activities to Your Website

As I was surfing the Internet, I spotted the Longview (WA) Public Library's website Longview Public Library, catching their ingenuity in using toolkit materials. In November 2006, they held a Bookmark Contest, using one of the contests that can be found in the toolkit. The entry form is linked on the website and could be downloaded and printed as desired. They kept it simple by adding only the campaign logo to the rules on the webpage.

I revisited the website in April 2007 to see that several games are hotlinked to download and print, again using the campaign logo to brand the activities for school age children: the Crossword Puzzle, the Double Puzzle, the Word Search, and Liz Ball's Hidden Pictures Puzzle.

Keene Public Library is holding a Bookmark Contest, using the template from the toolkit. They ask that the campaign slogan be the theme for the bookmark. Keene Public Library

Barbara Osborn, Children's Librarian, Allegan, MI (bosborn@alleganlibrary.org) took the scavenger hunts found in the toolkit and customized them to fit her specific need by adding grade levels on them. The scavenger hunts were used as a Summer Reading Program drop-in event for elementary age children called Library Scavenger Hunt. In the spirit of a treasure hunt, children worked alone or with a partner (sibling, friend, parent, grandparent, childcare provider) to follow clues that led to information about the library's collection. Stickers were earned along the way with a final prize for completion of the hunt (Smarties candy). Children who elected to work on and complete additional challenge sheets earned additional prizes (leftover prizes from previous SRPs). Barbara states that their event was a success!

Links a Website to the Toolkit's Author Visit Component

Children's Author/Illustrator Elizabeth O. Dulemba cites the Author Visit portion of the toolkit on her website. Her reasoning is this: "Including your link on my visits page validates the information I share, something I felt was sorely needed for schools unfamiliar with how author/illustrator visits work. It's a fantastic resource and I hope it becomes a 'go to' destination for schools everywhere!"

Use of Print PSAs in Local Newspaper

The Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services, with the help of some children's services librarians, has been working with the Providence Journal's Newspaper in Education Office for three years now. The first year we had a spread to promote summer reading, but for two years now we have had a whole section of the newspaper to promote the Summer Reading Program. We determine all content for the section, and most of the graphics and some activities come from the Collaborative Summer Library Program (CSLP). This year, we also included the camera-ready copy of both full-page Kids! @ your library print PSAs (English and Spanish) on the front page of the section. Thanks to funding from the McDonald's Restaurants of Rhode Island, almost 24,000 copies are distributed by the Journal with a certain day's newspaper to elementary schools throughout the state at the end of May/beginning of June.

Use of the Slogan Words as a Signature Imprint on Emails

I was reading a post on Pubyac recently and noted that Heidi Thiele (Children's Services & Programming, Wilmington PL, Wilmington, OH) uses the campaign slogan (found on our logo), "So Much to See, So Much to Do @ Your Library!" as her imprint under her contact information whenever she sends an email. While many people use a quotation here, I think this is a great message to send out. I wish I had thought of this first!